Mercedes team orders

Too much with the team orders from Brawn. When you've got one of your drivers limping around with low fuel unable to compete with the other at all then it's severe manipulation to tell the other to finish behind. Much respect to Hamilton for his conduct on podium though.

At the end of the day, most teams get to a certain part of the race and then call the race off, to ensure they maximise their points. I believe Button and Hamilton had this before at Mclaren. Hamilton was told to conserve fuel in the last few laps, and Nico only caught up because of that. Hamilton had Nico covered all through the first 2 stints, then had to turn the wick down. At the end of the day, these things work both ways, and this is racing, and always has been.

Hamilton was the faster man for most of the race .. He was then told to drive to conserve. Would be unfair to take his spot due to that. Ross also pointed out that the cars were in the middle of nowhere.. There was no chance for Rosberg to catch the cars in front and the cars behind were 15 seconds....

Hold station and bring the cars home was the right call .. Whether Rosberg likes it or not. Im sure the favor will be repaid at some point... Rosberg is no slowpoke.. his payback will come.

I also liked Hamilton's humility and acknowledgement of Rosberg's pace on the podium.

Bullshit.. it was a bad call.. they should have let Nico pass.. its not brain surgery this can cause problems later in the year.. Nico is a nice guy but he wont take this lightly.. they are friends but after this im not sure they will still be friends.. classy call from Lewis on the podium.. and classy response from Nico on Skyf1 afterwards but deep down inside.. Nico is cut big time !!

At the end of the day, most teams get to a certain part of the race and then call the race off, to ensure they maximise their points. I believe Button and Hamilton had this before at Mclaren. Hamilton was told to conserve fuel in the last few laps, and Nico only caught up because of that. Hamilton had Nico covered all through the first 2 stints, then had to turn the wick down. At the end of the day, these things work both ways, and this is racing, and always has been.

At the end of the day, most teams get to a certain part of the race and then call the race off, to ensure they maximise their points. I believe Button and Hamilton had this before at Mclaren. Hamilton was told to conserve fuel in the last few laps, and Nico only caught up because of that. Hamilton had Nico covered all through the first 2 stints, then had to turn the wick down. At the end of the day, these things work both ways, and this is racing, and always has been.

At the end of the day, most teams get to a certain part of the race and then call the race off, to ensure they maximise their points. I believe Button and Hamilton had this before at Mclaren. Hamilton was told to conserve fuel in the last few laps, and Nico only caught up because of that. Hamilton had Nico covered all through the first 2 stints, then had to turn the wick down. At the end of the day, these things work both ways, and this is racing, and always has been.

this goes both ways. maybe nico did conserve earlier and more thus making hamilton look faster? or hamilton ran with a lighter car and had to pay the price in the last laps?why should nico obey this? and this was not about them racing the wheels out of their cars and having a hold station moment. They were SLOW as hell

this goes both ways. maybe nico did conserve earlier and more thus making hamilton look faster? or hamilton ran with a lighter car and had to pay the price in the last laps?why should nico obey this? and this was not about them racing the wheels out of their cars and having a hold station moment. They were SLOW as hell

At the end of the day, most teams get to a certain part of the race and then call the race off, to ensure they maximise their points. I believe Button and Hamilton had this before at Mclaren. Hamilton was told to conserve fuel in the last few laps, and Nico only caught up because of that. Hamilton had Nico covered all through the first 2 stints, then had to turn the wick down. At the end of the day, these things work both ways, and this is racing, and always has been.

I'm baffled by this to be honest. Theere was a comfortable gap both in front and at the back, so Nico cruising past with DRS surely wouldn't have been a problem. Team gets the same points either way.

Nico did overtake Lewis but Lewis overtook him back. The team had 2 choice tell Lewis to stop fighting Nico because he had low fuel or Nico to stop fighting Lewis because Lewis had low fuel. They decided Nico should not fight.

problem today was, that the speed difference was huge, hamilton needed to save fuel a lot, it was obvious nico could easily have overtaken at no risk, this was only strengthened by hamiltons showing on the podest, he knew he didn't belong, had they had equal cars like seb and web it would have been different, thats what makes this call from brawn really bad

The only time team orders should be used, is when 1 driver is out of the title running, and that's it.

Second race of the season and already they're being used, I felt sick watching that.

Sadly the "save engine and tyres" culture has just made F1 a farce. Your preferred scenario will only happen with unlimited engines and proper tyres. I can see how the thought of no proper racing is sickening.

So Lewis should pay for Mercedes issue. He was ahead on merit all through the race, they owed it to him. Nico had to take one for team. All drivers hold station at the last stint. Nico was a cry baby, not like he was ever going to overtake the Rb'S

Lewis is usually the first to get on the radio and ask for a pass over a teammate holding him up. Nico's post race behaviour was classy, sporting, as was Lewis's. Nico was well justified to ask for the "move over" and only he knows if he had a chance to challenge the RedBull drivers. Every evidence is we were deprived of a great finish.

The only time team orders should be used, is when 1 driver is out of the title running, and that's it.

Second race of the season and already they're being used, I felt sick watching that.

Yes but team orders and tactics will always be around in come form. It's the tasteless ones that really smack us as fans. Today with Mercedes it was at the very low end of the scale AND the alternative (giving Nico Rosberg the pass) would also have been team orders. Many here consider the latter would have been the best option all things considered, I can see both sides but tend to agree.

If todays team orders make you sick then to be honest F1 of any era is probably not for you. Nor is cycling, or many other sports.

Not a Nico fan but this was disgusting, letting him go wouldn't have hurt the team, they'd have got the same amount of points. It's kicking Nico and demotivating him.

Ross Brawn.. Idiot

You obviously didn't bother to watch the race... for about 5 laps in a row Nico overtook Lewis and he re-took the place. The chance of a double DNF grew with every lap. Brawn was correct to call the fight off one way or another. Now as to who you think should have been ahead well that's a matter of pragmatism. Nico showed slightly better race pace all of the way through however when it mattered, Lewis was in in fuel saving due to using more in the earlier stage pushing the Red Bulls... we saw this a few times in 2010 with both Mclaren drivers, Turkey was a good example and bore a striking resemblance to todays events. Putting pressure on the leaders, causing them to be reactionary on their strategy rather than dictating the race as they chose allowed Merc to get two cars into podium positions at one point. So, you could argue that when it mattered later on Nico was able to use more of the car, however, Lewis used more of the car getting the both of them into that position.

this goes both ways. maybe nico did conserve earlier and more thus making hamilton look faster? or hamilton ran with a lighter car and had to pay the price in the last laps?why should nico obey this? and this was not about them racing the wheels out of their cars and having a hold station moment. They were SLOW as hell

Why should he obey this? It's a team sport, Nico drives for Mercedes, and they pay his salary.

The rest is all supposition on your part, but the team have explained it, and it makes sense. I am just happy Merc have a good car, and 2 fast drivers.

Obviously I was delighted with Lewis getting a podium today. I would have liked it if he had been challenging for the win though...it was not nice seeing him having to coast in the latter stages. It was a shame for Nico but I can see why they wanted to keep him behind Lewis...if Lewis had lost third because his car was underfuelled, then that would have been very unfair. And these three points could prove crucial to Lewis's fight for the WDC...yes, I do actually think he is in the hunt.

If Nico wants to beat Lewis, then maybe he should try qualifying in front of him for a change...

I think the question should be, had Rosberg been allowed to pass Hamilton could he have put the Mercedes in a position to challenge the Red Bull duo. If he'd have been able to that's one matter, if not, well then team orders are team orders and Brawn was correct, hold station and don't muck it up. Having said that, why is it that Hamilton felt it necessary to comment that Nico should have been on the podium? Let it go. If you really feel that bad about it; a) make it private or b) dont steal a win or pass and repass your teammate in the first place!

if Lewis had lost third because his car was underfuelled, then that would have been very unfair. And these three points could prove crucial to Lewis's fight for the WDC...yes, I do actually think he is in the hunt.

If Nico wants to beat Lewis, then maybe he should try qualifying in front of him for a change...

Rosberg had quite a few chances to overtake Lewis but failed to learn from his mistake of using DRS on the back straight to then get passed by Lewis on the front straight. This happened 2-3 times.

No wonder Brawn had enough and told them both to hold station.

Agreed, Nico had a few chances to pass and I believe he did actually get past at one point, but Lewis immediately took the place back. They did look at one point as if they were going to take each other out, so I was not surprised to see the team orders. With a season as close as this one looks as if it is going to be, these points could prove decisive. It was the right decision IMO.

And if he had been given the same amount of fuel as Nico?

Then I would have expected Lewis to be further ahead of Nico as he wouldn't have had to coast. But Lewis was not given enough fuel, so we'll never know.

Hamilton was the faster man for most of the race .. He was then told to drive to conserve. Would be unfair to take his spot due to that. Ross also pointed out that the cars were in the middle of nowhere.. There was no chance for Rosberg to catch the cars in front and the cars behind were 15 seconds....

Hold station and bring the cars home was the right call .. Whether Rosberg likes it or not. Im sure the favor will be repaid at some point... Rosberg is no slowpoke.. his payback will come.

I also liked Hamilton's humility and acknowledgement of Rosberg's pace on the podium.

But not faster when he needed to be. If he'd have got in front of Lewis in the pit stops he would not have had this issue.

I don't for one second think he could have challenged the bulls either. They both had fuel issues if you listen to Brawn. AsLong as the situation is repeated when he's ahead I don't see this as an issue.

Not a Nico fan but this was disgusting, letting him go wouldn't have hurt the team, they'd have got the same amount of points. It's kicking Nico and demotivating him.

Ross Brawn.. Idiot

Points wise you may be right, but the priority was to get the cars safely home, as Brawn mentioned that on the radio there was nothing to be gained in front. Its easy to say things from here, Lauda can blabber all he want, but if they have collided, i bet everyone would have been on Ross's thorat.Hamilton was defending hard and he entitled to do so, it was only when Nico asked the team to let him pass through the orders kicked in. Up until that point they were racing each other. So its fair play on everyone; Lewis was right to defent, Brawn was right to call his shot.

I fail to see how this is any different to Turkey 2010 when both drivers were being to save fuel although it was implicitly obvious that Lewis had less fuel, only the fact that Button went for it anyway, while Rosberg chose not to makes the situations different. Considering McLaren like to pride themselves on equality I fail to see what was wrong with what Merc did today (in a moral sense not a racing one) or how it is any indication of No 1 status.